Campaign finance reform passes Senate

The Senate gave its approval Wednesday to a comprehensive campaign finance reform bill after refusing to strip out a provision letting counties set up their own public-financing systems.

The measure, which passed on a 45-2 vote, would need to be reconciled with a slightly different version that passed the House.

Among other things, the legislation would raise campaign donation limits that haven’t changed in two decades, curb giving through multiple corporate entities to evade those limits, increase reporting requirements and give the State Board of Elections new enforcement powers.

Senators on Tuesday turned aside an attempt by Senate Minority Leader E. J. Pipkin, an Eastern Shore Republican, to amend the measure to remove the public financing provision, which would allow counties to decide whether to publicly finance campaigns for local office. His effort was rejected on a 25-16 vote.

Also rejected was an effort by Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Prince George’s Democrat, to reduce the increase in maximum a donor would be allowed to give to all campaign during a four-year election cycle. The bill would raise that amount from $10,000 to $24,000. Pinsky’s attempt to cut that to $15,000 was voted down 38-8.